Toddler running in street nearly struck twice

WAYNESBORO -- A toddler wearing only a diaper darted in front of a rural mail carrier and then a police vehicle on the same day, according to Washington Township Police.

Chelsee Nicole Rosenberry, the mother of the 2-year-old boy, was charged with a third-degree felony, endangering the welfare of children. Rosenberry, 25, of Wayneboro is free on $2,000 unsecured bail.

It’s the second time she has been charged with endangering the welfare of children.

A rural mail carrier with the Waynesboro Post Office reported that she nearly struck a child on June 1 while driving her route, according to court documents. The mail carrier met the investigating officer on the afternoon of June 1 at Old Germantown and Pen Mar roads. The carrier was “visibly upset and shaking” as she told her story to the officer.

The carrier told the officer that she had slowed down for the children she saw along Old Germantown Road, according to court documents. She did not see the diaper-clad toddler until she began traveling again. He ran across the road directly in front of her mail truck. She gave the officer the address from which the child had come.

The officer drove east on Old Germantown Road, according to court documents. About 15 homes are located on the dead end street. A toddler, wearing only a diaper, darted into the street in front of the officer’s vehicle. The officer stopped abruptly. He scolded the child and told the child to go home. The child’s older brother came running down the road, and the officer told him to take the child home.

The officer met the two boys at the address the carrier had given him, according to court documents. The officer asked the older boy to get his mother. Rosenberry came to the door when the boy told her a policeman was outside. She acknowledged that the two children were hers. The officer told her that her toddler had been nearly struck by two vehicles. She explained the incidents by saying she had been caring for her infant and she had gone to the bathroom.

She begged the officer not to charge her, according to court documents. “Please don’t arrest me,” she told the officer. “I’m a single parent.” Rosenberry also told the officer that Pennsylvania State Police previously had charged her near St. Thomas for the same thing with her son who is now 7 years old.

Rosenberry pleaded guilty in 2012 in Franklin County Court to misdemeanor endangering welfare of children, according to court records. She was sentenced to two years’ probation. The court terminated her sentence early.